Epic 4G Touch

The low-cost Sprint MVNO FreedomPop just launched its freemium phone service last month, but now it's expanding phone selection by letting users bring their own handsets. However, that doesn't mean you can take just any Sprint device over the FreedomPop and kiss your bill goodbye – there are some restrictions.

We sure weren't expecting this, but today Sprint announced on its support site that the Epic 4G Touch (the Now Network's branded version of the Galaxy S II) is getting an update to Jelly Bean. Undoubtedly version 4.1, but this would still be a welcome upgrade as it brings with it the ability to access Google Now, among a host of other features.

If you have an aging-but-not-yet-dead Epic 4G just waiting to be upgraded, maybe now's the time to slap a good ol' dose of CyanogenMod on it. Why now? Because it just got its first official CM10.1 nightly. Sure, you could've been running CM10 for some time, but now you can have the latest build that AOSP has to offer.

With CM10.1 – which is based on Android 4.2.x for those who may not know – you get fun things like lockscreen widgets (so you can finally get in on the DashClock action), Quick Settings, and a few other, less obvious tweaks.

Still stuck with an Epic 4G Touch (or stuck a relative with your old one)? If you've been holding off on flashing some of the previously leaked Jelly Bean builds for fear of stability or finality, Sextape has released what is rumored to be the final build that will go out as an over the air update some time in the near future.

Did you think that the Galaxy S III was the only one getting all of Samsung's Jelly Bean attention? Not so! As it turns out, the company is also working on Android 4.1 for older phones, including but not limited to the...*deep breath*...Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch. A build has leaked out over on XDA of 4.1.1 in all its TouchWiz-ified glory that's ready for the flashing looking at, if you're feeling adventurous bored.

Good morning, owners of the Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III Epic 4G Touch. When you get your breath back, check your device's update function in the settings menu. Sprint's got a maintenance update, assuming that you're running the latest stock and non-rooted version of Ice Cream Sandwich. Software version S:D710.10S.FI27 adds only a few bug fixes to the email, MMS, and VPN apps, so don't get your hopes up for Jelly Bean any time soon.

Well, E4GT owners, today is the day you've been waiting for (unless you've rooted and flashed a custom ICS ROM, in which case, you're no longer waiting for anything): the official ICS update is now rolling out to your device. As expected, the update brings a host of new features:

A refined, evolved user interface that is simple, beautiful and useful

Today is a good day, I think, for source code drops! Samsung has just released the source code for an update for the Epic 4G Touch, Sprint's variant of the Galaxy S II. The update (FF18) is said to be rolling out to devices right now as an OTA. If you want to get your hands on the kernel code to fiddle with it yourself before the update arrives, however, you can head to Samsung's download page here.